Genome-wide transcriptional analysis suggests hydrogenase- and nitrogenase-mediated hydrogen production in Clostridium butyricum CWBI 1009

摘要

BackgroundMolecular hydrogen, given its pollution-free combustion, has great potential to replace fossil fuels in future transportation and energy production. However, current industrial hydrogen production processes, such as steam reforming of methane, contribute significantly to the greenhouse effect. Therefore alternative methods, in particular the use of fermentative microorganisms, have attracted scientific interest in recent years. However the low overall yield obtained is a major challenge in biological H2 production. Thus, a thorough and detailed understanding of the relationships between genome content, gene expression patterns, pathway utilisation and metabolite synthesis is required to optimise the yield of biohydrogen production pathways.